hide
Free keywords:
Hyperthermia; temperature mapping; thermometry; radial MRI; real-time MRI
Abstract:
Background: Optimal control of minimally invasive interventions by hyperthermia requires dynamic temperature mapping at high temporal resolution.
Methods: Based on the temperature-dependent shift of the proton resonance frequency (PRF), this work developed a method for real-time MRI thermometry which relies on highly undersampled radial FLASH MRI sequences with iterative image reconstruction by regularized nonlinear inversion (NLINV). As a first step, the method was validated with use of a temperature phantom and ex vivo organs (swine kidney) subjected to heating by warm water or a pulsed laser source.
Results: The temperature maps obtained by real-time PRF MRI demonstrate good accuracy as independently controlled by fiber-optic temperature sensors. Moreover, the dynamic results demonstrate both excellent sensitivity to single laser pulses (20 ms duration, 6 J energy output) and high temporal resolution, i.e., 200 ms acquisition times per temperature map corresponding to a rate of 5 frames per second. In addition, future extensions to in vivo applications were prepared by addressing the breathingrelated motion problem by a pre-recorded library of reference images representative of all respiratory states.
Conclusions: The proposed method for real-time MRI thermometry now warrants further developments towards in vivo MRI monitoring of thermal interventions in animals.
